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Oral Squamous Carinoma

Hello,

My 11 year old cavalier, Kaylee, was diagnosed with Oral Squamous Carcinoma last week. Her symptoms were slow to eat and open her mouth, drooling, and eventually I saw some blood. I took her in as soon as I noticed the strange eating thinking it was a tooth. They sedated her to see what was going on inside and found a 1 inch ulcer on the roof of her left side in her mouth. It was eating away healthy tissue and one molar was hanging by a thread. They did XRays and saw part of her left cheek bone was compromised/gone. Biopsy confirmed the cancer.

I've never had a dog with cancer. As many of you can relate since you have cavaliers, Kaylee is very special to me and I am heart broken. I want to do whatever I can to either help her or make her more comfortable. Right now I have her on Rimadyl and Buprenorphine and it seems to have helped tremendously. She seems pretty normal that I forget she has cancer. I switched her to soft food.

Has anyone gone through this? Do you have any advice? Should I seek out an oncologist? From talking to my vets, it sounds like she has weeks or months, they have no real answer. It doesn't sound curable since its impacted the bone. Radiation would also cause mouth sores.. and I don't know if thats really smart to do.

I'm so sorry that Kaylee is so ill. I have no personal experience of a dog with cancer, but with an 11-year-old I would be very reluctant to put her through invasive treatment such as radiotherapy. I would concentrate on keeping her as pain-free and comfortable as possible, and living as normal a life as she can - which is where you seem to be at the moment. My own reaction is that an oncologist might not be able to do much more than your vet, a pain specialist might be able to help with keeping Kaylee comfortable for as long as possible.

Having nursed several Cavaliers through terminal illnesses, I find you do quite a lot of your grieving in the process, knowing you're not going to have them for much longer - so expect some tears as you journey with Kaylee, it's tough for the owner as well as the dog.

I'm so sorry that Kaylee is so ill. I have no personal experience of a dog with cancer, but with an 11-year-old I would be very reluctant to put her through invasive treatment such as radiotherapy. I would concentrate on keeping her as pain-free and comfortable as possible, and living as normal a life as she can - which is where you seem to be at the moment. My own reaction is that an oncologist might not be able to do much more than your vet, a pain specialist might be able to help with keeping Kaylee comfortable for as long as possible.

Having nursed several Cavaliers through terminal illnesses, I find you do quite a lot of your grieving in the process, knowing you're not going to have them for much longer - so expect some tears as you journey with Kaylee, it's tough for the owner as well as the dog.